In the situation created after the commissioning of the Tegh-Kornidzor road, on March 30, Azerbaijan announced that they had taken control of several heights. The National Security Service of Armenia first reported that the Azerbaijani forces were deployed at least 100-300 meters in front of the border in 5 points of that sector (the territory of the Tegh community of Syunik region). Then it said that due to border adjustment works, the situation in that sector has significantly improved. Meanwhile, the residents of Tegh confirmed in a conversation with some mass media that the Azerbaijanis are consolidating in their fields. The other day, Nikol Pashinyan also said there is some improvement in the situation. However, it needs to be clarified what kind of improvement we are discussing. “Aravot” talked about these and other issues with Seyran Ohanyan, deputy of the Armenia faction of the National Assembly and former Minister of Defense of Armenia.
– Mr. Ohanyan, according to your analysis, what are the deep and visible causes of what happened?
– The government’s primary task is to correctly assess the security environment and external and internal threats and make decisions. Two years have passed, and there has been no defense-strategic review. It was necessary to review the problems facing Armenia and Artsakh thoroughly. Calculations of the ratio of forces and means have yet to be made. They can even say that that territory is Azerbaijani, and they have come forward. I don’t know because you have to work carefully on the map, but, in any case, it is unacceptable to say something like that because Azerbaijan pushed into the territory of Armenia. Every inch of land should be used for further demarcation and delimitation. The experience of these two years allows us to conclude that the government of Armenia cannot determine the priorities that need to be responded to quickly. When a person builds the wall of his house, he decides first and does not compromise anything. Not to mention when the issue concerns the state.
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For example, Azerbaijan, being an aggressor, a criminal, and not having populated areas behind it, climbed our strategic heights and borders faster, becoming the owner of strategically relevant points and roads. And we have left the residents of our border settlements alone against the Azerbaijanis. Meanwhile, we have residents, infrastructure, and roads, and we have not been able to rise quickly and strengthen ourselves in strategic points. The state has that potential. Either they do not understand, or this is intentional or widespread illiteracy, or they are under the delusion of the Turkish-Azerbaijani “peace era.” Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is not ready for peace, although it says so with its words, it tightens the parallel ring around Armenia and Azerbaijan.
– Anna Hakobyan recently repeated one of the theses of the President of Azerbaijan, that during the 44-day war, the Armenian side had 11 thousand of deserters. How do you think; where did a civilian get such information, and for what purpose is such a statement made public?
– I have never referred to what other people’s family members, wives, and children said. Nikol Pashinyan should be asked where she got the information about many defectors because law enforcement agencies are working in that direction. Presumably, the Ministry of Defense has also been working. The full potential of the state was not used to avoid defections. The three branches of government have functions to perform during wartime and have not fulfilled their duties. And today, they pretend to be brave, instigating fake cases and prosecutions. But calling out such numbers and talking about men means carrying out another deviating action within the state, showing that part of our people are cowards. The leader of those cowards is today’s head of state. They are trying to point all the arrows at the army while the state is entirely fighting during the war. Therefore, diverting the arrows from the main organizers to only the military is unacceptable.
Luiza SUKIASYAN
“Aravot” daily, 04.08.2023
